Personalised message from Santa

Christmas is a time for magic…especially when our boys are at the age where they notice things. Our 6 year old spotted a ‘fake Santa’ (or Father Christmas as he goes by both in our house) the other day as you could see the elastic holding the beard in place which led to many questions around is he real or not.

Well, I asked him what he thought as we both know that Father Christmas is busy right up until Christmas Eve. He agreed that he is indeed real and that the real Santa only comes out on Christmas Eve (Pfew!).

Well, I have devised a cunning plan! Not in the horrible sense of cunning, more like I am excited to keep the magic of Christmas going and have found a tool to help me out!

There is…wait for it….a site that provides personalised video messages from the Big Man himself directly to your computer, mobile or tablet! Now whether that is being naughty or nice will be up to the boys in years to come, but for now, it will help me keep the ruse going.

Pure brilliance! I’ve had a play and created my personalised message from Santa. There are various options over and above just adding your child’s name and is pretty user friendly. I have gone for a premium version which allows for a bit more personalisation. There is however a basic video which is a free personalized Christmas video message offered to parents through Portable North Pole’s mobile app

Santa / Father Christmas (or his elves) , then put all the information you provide him into his magic machine and voila! knows all he needs to know for the big night of Christmas Eve, you can choose adults too (fancy that!)

I am going to be heading back over to that Portable North Pole website and what’s more, Mumof2.com readers or visitors will get a 20% off digital products in the PNP store until the 1st January using the following discount code : BLG20BKP

***sponsored review*** I have received a voucher to review this product

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Coffee in our house has become an occasion. We use filtered water to ensure that the famous Nespresso machine (ours is a Magimix) doesn’t get clogged with limescale and that the coffee is ‘pure’.

So, when the Big Cup Little Cup bunch, CaféPod’s sister company, asked whether I liked chocolate (which I love more than coffee!) and asked if I would be happy to try their Nespresso compatible pods that had notes of dark chocolate and chestnut, how could I resist?

We have never used anything else in our coffee machine other than Nespresso pods (bought direct) and to be honest I was a little nervous as to how our machine would cope. I was half thinking I might have the lights all flashing as if it refused to make the coffee!

Well, it was quite happy to process the Reindeer Rocket pod! The main difference between the 2 pods is that the one is plastic and the other is aluminium, which in recycling terms is much of a muchness. The numbers to let you know how strong the coffee is correlates too!

Now on to the important bit…how about that coffee? The limited edition seasonal blend that we tried was the Reindeer Rocket. With the Christmas music in the shops and the boys practising their school nativity play it just seems like a nice choice at this time of the year.

I made an espresso to check the punchiness and for me it was spot on and full bodied with an intense flavour that has a lingeringness (is that a word?!) of chocolate. It was delicious! I can’t wait to have it as a latte tomorrow morning.

The concept of Big Cup (lungo or large) Little Cup (espresso) reminds me somewhat of Big Cook Little Cook and makes sense from CaféPod and it’s always nice to have a change to the standard coffee I usually have to choose from at home.

If you would like to try the Reindeer Rocket for yourselves, CaféPod are giving Mumof2.com reader’s 15% off your first order at www.bigcuplittlecup.com with the discount code MUMOF215

What is your favourite flavour and size of coffee?

***DISCLAIMER – I have been provided this product to review. All opinions are honest and my own. ***

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Harvest Time

Harvest time is such a busy time in the year whether you know it’s harvest time or not. In the UK, the kids have gone back to school and someone somewhere has a countdown to Christmas saying 17 Fridays left.

I grew up in a country where they harvest all year round and so there isn’t much of a celebration of all the hard work that has gone into growing crops. In fact, when we lived in London I still hadn’t heard of harvest festivals and so moving to the countryside has taught me a thing or 2 even thought I grew up in a farming community.

There are a couple of parts that are my favourite. Our village school asks the children to decorate a shoe box that has a connection to harvesting crops and pop some food items in. They are then later taken to our little church where the children sing and give their boxes as part of the celebration.

I know we usually have to give fresh food produce (well there are a few tutt tutts when there are tinned or other goodies) but I like to have a look with the boys and find items that have been harvested and in some cases gone through a production line. The reason being, is that I want the boys to understand that in most cases, something has been harvested before it became the flour or the cocoa powder. This year’s favourite was honey,

Harvest Boxes

I didn’t think to take a photo until we had got to school but the boys chose 2 very different harvest boxes which took us 3 days to make (mainly for the paint to dry). The one is a tractor which has it’s goodies stored under the bonnet and the other is a crop sprayer.

The children did so well at the Havrest Festival service and they were all so proud of their creations – it was just lovely to see.

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I love milkshakes (and plus Mumof2 is turning 2!) and what a great way to celebrate both than by telling me what your favourite milkshake combination is and you could win a £25 Amazon Voucher!

I know there are a few family specific combinations out there and would love to hear them. I like banana and bovril on toast for instance and some of my friends think it is just plain weird but our boys love it.

When it comes to milkshakes, I have 2 favourites. The first is an Amarula Milkshake (it has alcohol just to warn you!) and the second is a Horlicks milkshake and putting the 2 together is just too divine for words!

The folk over at a2 Milk have teamed up with us and we’d love to hear what your favourite concoctions are.

If you haven’t heard of A2 Milk….Not all milk is the same

There are different types of proteins in Milk including ones called A1 and A2. Regular dairy cows produce milk that contains both the A1 and A2 protein.

Studies show that the A1 protein breaks down more slowly in the body, and for some people this can lead to uncomfortable symptoms that are similar to those of lactose intolerance. But for many of these people, the problem isn’t lactose (which is the sugar in milk) at all – the A1 protein could be the issue.

Now a2 Milk is available in the UK market, and so far they have around 3,000 certified A2 cows producing pure a2 milk for us, mostly Friesians and Holsteins. They are milked separately from the other cows on the farm, and the milk they produce is pure, natural and delicious.

It is available in most supermarkets and I can vouch that a latte made with A2 is just as tasty.

So…go on then – I am sure you would like to win the £25 Amazon Voucher in the #Mya2MilkShake competition! Good Luck!!

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The Click & Chat Social Media Link up Party #27!

Thank you so much for stopping by The Click and Chat Social Media Link up Party!

We are all about networking and helping you grow your social media numbers!

This month we are excited to announce that this linkup will appear on 16 amazing blogs!! That is 16 times the exposure for you and your links!

We are also looking for co-hosts for the coming up months, so if you are interested please contact either Amber or Kim on any of their social media and we will chat about it!

We will also have a featured blogger every week. Being chosen for our featured blogger spot means that we will share your picture (or logo) and your social media links just to let even more people see your awesome blog! To be considered for that spot you must have shared about the link up on at least one of your social medias and of course had good blogging manners and followed or liked the hosts and co-hosts on at least one or more of their social medias.

To make it easier for you to follow your hosts and co-hosts we have put them in the first couple of spots in each link up section.

Ready to link up? Great!

Some quick and easy rules-

1. Please follow your hosts and co-hosts on at least one or more of their social medias! It is just good blogging manners! . You can find all of our social media in the links below! Have you already followed us on one? Find another one to follow us on! We post great stuff on all of them, you won’t be disappointed!

2. This link up is all about networking and meeting new friends! Make sure to visit some other links on any list you leave your link on!This makes it fun and really helps get the exposure on all the blogs that they deserve! You are all awesome- now go meet some other awesome people!Now if you want to be super awesome you can always tweet, share,+, or pin this link up!

Thanks for stopping by The Click and Chat Social Media Link up party!!